Aahar Yojana Cheap meal Scheme to provide Subsidised Food Launched in Sambalpur, Odisha
Aahar yojana is an excellent scheme of our state government to help poor people in the city. It is a food subsidization program run by the government of Odisha to provide cheap lunch to urban poor at rupees five per meal scheme. It was inaugurated on April1, 2015 by the chief Minister of Odisha Navin Patnaik on Utkal Divas the foundation day of the state for providing cooked vegetarian meals at subsidizsed food to urban poor. The state government on april1st opened 21 Aahar centres. The scheme provides meals in five major cities of Odisha, Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela and Berhampur. Food provided under this scheme is Bhata (hot cooked meal of rice), Dalma (a curry of pulses and vegetables), and pickles are served to people at Rs.5/- each a plate. The actual cost of food is around Rs20/-. But is subsidized to Rs. 5 with financial assistance from the IDCOL.
The mission of this scheme is to provide cheap lunch to labourers who travel to big cities in search of work. The Government launched the scheme in five major cities of Odisha in order to ease the inconveniences of labourers. Aahar stalls are mainly found in crowded places like hospitals, bus stands or railway stations to serve lunch at just Rs 5/-. The hygiene of the food is checked by different municipal hospitals. The Aahar centres provide food at the designated places. The subsidised meals for people visiting urban areas for various works would be provided at four crowded places each in these five cities from 11AM to 3PM every day. There are 5,350 meals are prepare every day for urban poor and served at Rs5/- each except Sunday in the below mentioned 5 centre’s
1. District HQ Hospital-Sambalpur medical 2. Laxmi talkies (OSRTC bldg 3. Firm Road (Near horticulture) 4. Burla Medical 5. Jail chowk (Kalyan Mandap) .
The centres are set up at hospitals, and industrial towns with the help of eligible funding agencies. Except Sunday and local holidays like Nuakhai, Sital sasthi it is open all other day. Aahar outlet was inaugurated by Finance Minister in Burla medical first. Dist- Sambalpur, Block-Maneswar, Location-Burla.Name of work-Aahar Distribution Centre’s at Burla, The food is cooked and distributed by Manna Trust and total operation maintenance managed by Sambalpur Municipal Corporation.
The Municipal commissioner Mr. Bimalendu Ray and Dy. Commisioner Mr. Sudhansu Ku Bhoi of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation said more corporate houses should join their hand to fund the scheme for charity sustainable development, gained and earned tremendous goodwill within their areas of operation. The companies should honestly invest even the small amount that they are supposed to spend under the banner of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is the question for their patriotism.
The Aahar scheme is being sponsored by Mahanadi Coalfields ltd (MCL) was supposed to sponsor Aahar in Sambalpur where it is head quartered; Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) in Sambalpur, Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, Odisha power Generation Corporation (OPGC) in Rourkela and Tata Steel is supporting the scheme in Berhampur.
The concerned authority has directed the officials to ensure quality of the food and maintain hygiene at Aahar outlets. They have also taken necessary infrastructure facilities including transportation, training, sanitation, drinking water and all other allied infrastructure for giving better facilities to the beneficiaries.
Prepared By: Manas .R. Tripathy (Team Leader cum Manager, AMRUT)